The great train robbery: Rs 5.78 crore taken form Chennai bound train

Chennai: In a daring train robbery, Rs 5.78 crore in cash, which was part of Rs 342 crore worth soiled notes being transported from Salem to Chennai in the overnight Salem Express on Monday, was stolen by unidentified persons.

The thieves had made a hole on the roof of the parcel wagon which had been hired for transporting the soiled notes. Even as the robbers were making good their escape with a stash of cash through a 2-square foot hole in the roof, a police team comprising a deputy superintendent of police, an inspector and four other police personnel from TN police were sitting in the next compartment guarding the cash wagon.

The robbers were choosy, taking only bundles of Rs 500 from the boxes, leaving behind bundles of Rs 100. The incident came to light only when the wagon returned from Chetpet yard to the Egmore railway station at around 11 am. The train had reached Chennai at 4 am on Tuesday and was then sent to the Chetpet yard.

Railway police officials said they are working on the case in close coordination with the Railway Protection Force, which has registered a case. “All the railway police station officers and teams had been told to look for clues on the track as well as CCTV footage wherever available from Salem to Chennai Egmore,” said Srilakshmi Prasad, ADGP, railway police. She said every member of the railway police will be working without worrying about jurisdiction boundaries.

Police said IOB had collected the soiled notes from five banks in the region and had dispatched them to RBI for incineration in Chennai. Investigators strongly believe that the robbery could have happened between Salem and Virudhachalam where the railway track is not electrified. The train had halted at Virudhachalam for 30 minutes.  The investigators have not ruled out the possibility of the robbery having taken place in the Chetpet yard when the wagon was parked there between 4 am and 10 am.

“We believe that it was carried out by more than 2 people and it was a well planned one. A lot of people knew that the cash was being transported. People working in the banks, police department, parcel agency and railway were all aware that a huge amount of cash was being transported,” a senior railway police official revealed.

To avoid the risk of a fire, the gang may not have used a gas cutter.  Instead, they had opted for carpenter's tools like chisels or even axes and hammers to make small cuts to open up the roof of the wagon. After cutting through on three sides, the gang had pushed the fourth side inwards and entered the wagon. They took bundles of '500 notes after cutting open three cardboard boxes, police said.